Cabanas approach: is sentinel node biopsy reliable for staging penile carcinoma?

In 1977 Cabanas proposed biopsy of a sentinel node which is considered the primary site of metastasis from penile carcinoma. If this node is not invaded by tumor, no further surgical treatment is necessary. We report on 2 patients in whom results of bilateral sentinel lymph node biopsies were negative and in whom pelvic lymph node metastasis developed within one year.